In Arizona, Medicaid — known as AHCCCS — is not just a budget line item. It’s a lifeline for 2 million people, including one in three children.

This program is crucial not just for those it directly covers, but for every person in our state. Yet today, this critical program is under threat. Congressional proposals to reduce Medicaid funding would significantly impact Arizona’s health care landscape, undermine access to essential primary and behavioral health services for highly vulnerable populations and destabilize our state’s health care economy.

Looking at the numbers makes the urgency of this situation even clearer. Last year alone, AHCCCS provided health care to roughly 64,000 Arizonans battling cancer, 450,000 with heart disease, 700,000 dealing with respiratory conditions like asthma and COPD, 68,000 individuals affected by opioid-use disorders and 660,000 experiencing mental, behavioral health and developmental disorders. Behind these numbers are real people — patients who rely on providers like Denova Collaborative Health every day.